Your Local Starbucks
by Chocolatebunny-san
Summary: It took Levy awhile to see what was going on. She was oblivious to the little signs at least. All the employees could see what was going on. She had caught the eye of a certain barista, but it would work out. They would meet soon enough.
1. Chapter 1

Hi! Most of my fics on here are rather lengthy full-plot stories, but I decided to share something a little light. I hope you enjoy!

* * *

Your Local Starbucks

Honestly, it took Levy awhile to realize what was going on. She always went to Starbucks around the same time since starting university. The first time, she nearly died when she saw the heavily pierced man working behind the counter. As she waited in line, she watched as he barked orders at the staff yet was somewhat gentle with customers. Despite this, Levy was nervous to place her order.

_I knew I should have ordered from the app while walking here. _However, when it was her turn to order, another employee took her order as the large man disappeared in the back. Levy would admit that she was relieved though in the days to come she grew a little curious about the man.

About the second or third time around, she was able to meet the man. Well…sort of. Again, forgetting to utilize the app, she got a good look at him while waiting in line. He was huge. Like tall height and large muscles. He seemed to look naturally mean no matter what he was saying and possibly grew even more aggressive when speaking Spanish into the headset for the drive-thru. He just seemed out of place. Like he should be working at a mechanic shop, not a coffee shop.

For some reason, while Levy was placing her order, he seemed quiet. Maybe he could smell her fear as she looked into those red eyes. He barely said a word once she placed her order unlike with the customers from before. He simply said, "Alright." Levy wasn't sure what she was expecting, but it wasn't that. After a ten-minute wait, Levy received her drink and was on her way back to her dorm.

_Did the sizes get bigger?_ Levy was a caffeine-fiend and made herself order the small size, yet for some reason her drinks seemed bigger than they were a couple months ago. Her imagination got the best of her, and she thought that the large man had been slipping her deal out of sympathy. Maybe she did have that permanent exhausted look in her eyes from studying. However, the rare occasions that she didn't see the man, her drinks still appeared larger than before. If Levy wasn't so anxious about interacting with people, she would have asked an employee. Starbucks' website provided no insight either.

On her birthday, she went to get her free drink. This time she knew she ordered a small, so when presented with the largest strawberry crème frappuccino she's ever seen in her life, Levy knew something was up. She had ordered ahead with the app and saw scribbled, _'Happy Birthday Shrimp.' _Levy blushed. There were only three workers, including the large man, there but he was busy arguing in Spanish about how he couldn't remake a drink again for the fifth time since the customer wouldn't say what was wrong.

Levy decided to sit outside and read for once to enjoy her treat. She read for a while when she was interrupted by a large gasp. She looked up from her book and saw the other two workers looking at her excitedly. She looked confusingly at the two women gossiping. She could only hear, "That's the girl!" in a loud whisper.

One of them grew bold and approached her. "Hey girl, sorry if we looked rude talking about you. It's just that you _never_ stick around after getting your drink." Levy blushed immediately embarrassed and even more confused. "Hey, hey, don't freak out. Sorry. Working in the industry, you kinda notice little quirks about regulars."

The second woman spoke up. "We were just shocked to see you. Our shift manager, the lug with all the piercings, totally has a crush on you."

"I mean you are so cute!" the first woman squeaked.

"Anyway, like lowkey some tea, he insisted that any time you were here to give you a size up if you ordered a small—which you always do. Oop! That probably sounded creepy." The other woman covered her mouth and snickered.

Levy was beaming at this point. The two were talking so fast that she had no idea what to make of anything there were saying. "Sis, you need to go in there and ask Gajeel what's up cause we been watching this charade for months. Get an answer sis. Period."

Levy couldn't say a word. She simply nodded and continued to drink her drink while the women left her to process their words. Gajeel was his name, but the rest about him crushing on her was not believable. Levy usually went when it was busy; there was no way he could have noticed her all those times. Sure, it was true that the drink sizes were larger, but maybe that was to prevent waste.

She sighed. She didn't know what to make of any of that. Thankfully, her phone buzzed and she saw a text from her roommate/best friend about her birthday plans. It was definitely enough to put this whole Starbucks-guy business to the side.

_This could not be happening…_

Levy sat at her favorite Cuban sandwich bar and from the corner of her eye saw 'Starbucks-guy' walk in with her roomie's boyfriend—Natsu.

Levy patted on Lucy's arm hard. "Oh my god, Lucy that's him!"

Her friend looked her confusingly. "Girl what?"

"Starbucks-guy!" She loudly whispered.

Lucy's eyes exploded. She immediately turned to the man and blurted out. "Gajeel, you work at Starbucks?"

Levy wanted to die then and there. Why did Lucy have to put him out there like that. Her best hope was that he wouldn't have actually recognized her and that the two women's words were false. She wanted to melt on the spot. This was the most awkward birthday ever.

The man was out of his uniform and looked at Lucy in shock. "How did you-," he then stopped and saw Levy sitting beside her. His eyes were huge. "Oh shit."

* * *

There's a chapter two! Review and all stuff. Thanks!


	2. Chapter 2

_Oh this was awkward~ _

* * *

If you had asked Gajeel, how he felt about the bluenette that frequented his work place, he would claim to not know what you were talking about. To be honest, he couldn't wrap his head around it either. He barely paid attention to people, and at work, it was more about the food and drinks that the people he was serving. He kept to himself so much that even his play-cousin, Natsu, had no idea he worked there. Not that he was ashamed. It was a hard job and took some time to master, and Gajeel needed something for himself. Something different away from the stereotypical jobs that people assumed he did.

So he worked at Starbucks. He made drinks, bettered his customer service skills, was able to speak his mother's tongue, and enjoyed the peace in the moments of chaos.

But _she_ made him crazy in a way. Like he didn't even know what was going on. It was like his brain saw that bluenette and would take over. He would already be busy and sometimes manage to avoid her, but then if he _did_ have to talk to her, he could barely say a word. He was always relieved when the ticket came in and saw her name with a mobile order. That meant as minimal interaction as possible. Everyone knew she never stayed inside, so that meant Gajeel could force himself to stay focus and only get a second to glance at her before continuing the task at hand.

Truthfully, he didn't mean to give her a size up from her order. The first time was an accident. He had way too much extra from her drink and just poured into another cup. This was another mobile order of hers, and when she came to pick it up, she had paused for a moment to examine the drink. To be fair, her expression was well…cute. The size-up order came from his lips without much thought, and the employees seemed to listen for some unknown reason.

But here he was now. Staring at that bluenette up close and personal. Natsu invited him to hang out with his friends for a birthday, and Gajeel needed some relief after a long double-shift especially the first half with nagging from two _particular_ women. He had no idea Natsu knew the girl otherwise he would have come up with some lame excuse. He didn't know what to say. Sure, he noticed his coworkers speaking to her earlier, but he wasn't prepared to deal with Levy head-on that same day.

The two just starred at each other.

Feeling the tension in the air, Lucy got up and grabbed Natsu by the arm. "Come on, let's see where the others are."

Levy groaned mentally. _Lucy, what if he's a psychopath?! _Levy shook her head. _Calm down, Lucy knows him. She wouldn't leave me if he wasn't a decent guy_. Levy spoke first. "Hello, my name's Levy." She smiled sweetly on the outside, but was screaming on the inside.

Gajeel cleared his throat and shook her hand. "Uh hi,…Gajeel…happy birthday." He couldn't look her in the eye.

"Thanks…"

Gajeel sighed. _Get it together! Say something you idiot! _"Uh-,"

"Okay, look I'm so sorry if this is awkward. I have no idea who you are, and it is so weird seeing you here. I mean like, when I go to Starbucks and see you, I'm like 'oh cool cute scary piercing guy is here.' I had no idea you were friends with Natsu and Lucy like ah! I hope we can get to know each other and be friends!" Levy was always good with words. She loved reading, blogs, interviews, language—anything with words! But that had to be the most thrown together, pile of throw up of English she has ever put together. She blushed and covered her face.

She wanted to evaporate. She smelled her food in front of her. The waitress must have come, but Levy didn't want to move at all.

She then heard an exchange between the waitress and her new acquaintance. They were going back n forth in Spanish, and she could hear the teasing tone in the waitress' voice.

"Oh my gosh Levy, I didn't know you were Gajeel's girlfriend."

_God, please. It's my birthday. _Levy moved her hands and smiled shyly. "What? No, we literally just met today. He's a friend of friend. I promise!"

The woman looked deviously at Gajeel. 'Wife her.' She mouthed at the man. Their exchanged went on. Levy could only pick up a little of what was going on, but she watched at Gajeel's face grew more and more red. He seemed to be shrinking as the woman kept going on.

"Oh I'm just teasing! I'll leave you two alone now. Tell your friend to come in and get her food." The waitress then left.

Levy couldn't even move her attention to Lucy. The two were both blushing so hard for their own reasons. Levy had to keep the conversation going. This was already a lot going on to begin with. "So um…you go here a lot?"

Gajeel perked up immediately. _Well at least she's talking to me._ "Uh yeah…she's like an aunt to me. Our families go to the same church." He chuckled. "She would drag me to confessional when I was teen in exchange of not telling my parents."

Levy laughed. "Oh my gosh, that's hilarious. She must _love _the piercings."

Gajeel chuckled. "Gihi, look shrimp, I've done worse things to confess than these." He seemed to beam with pride. They both laughed a little. "Uh, I just wanted to say…" he paused and cussed internally. "Sorry, I ain't good with words n shit. I had no idea I'd actually meet you, so I hope you aren't freaked out or anything. You're cute n shit, and I bet you're smart since you go to that big fancy school." He coughed awkwardly. "I uh…yeah. I wouldn't mind being friends either."

Levy beamed. "Oh Gajeel, that's great! I can tell you mean well. Plus, we're friends with the same people. We'll definitely get to hang out more." Gajeel smiled a little and nodded.

Natsu and Lucy came back with the rest of their friends. They approached the two who seemed to have gotten a little more comfortable with each other. As they got close, Gajeel and Levy both turned red and blurted out simultaneously, "Wait, you think I'm cute?"

* * *

So that's that. I hope you like it. Just some initial interactions. I didn't want them to hook up or confess anything major. Slow and steady and all that good stuff. Thanks for reading! Review if you want!


End file.
